Travel: VISITING WASHINGTON DC1 STAY IN FAIRFAX INSTEAD!

fairfax.dtp
Travel:
VISITING
WASHINGTON DC?
STAY IN FAIRFAX
INSTEAD!
by Don Woodland
Spring, and with it cherry blossom
time, is just around the corner in the
Washington area. If you’re planning a
trip to DC this spring, you can save
between 1/3 to 1/2 on inside-thebeltway hotel room prices, by staying
in nearby Fairfax, Virginia, located
just west of Washington, D.C. You
won’t have to pay for hotel parking
either.
From Fairfax, downtown DC is
accessible by car, commuter train (the
Orange Line from Vienna/Fairfax station), or you can take the shuttle from
the newly-opened Steven F. UdvarHazy Air & Space Museum, located
next to Dulles Airport. It takes you to
the Smithsonian downtown for only
$7. Dulles airport and Reagan airports
are equally convenient airports, if you
choose to stay in Fairfax, Va. United
airlines has three direct flights to
Dulles alone, from Providence each
day.
Fairfax has a rich history. The
land that would eventually become the
city of Fairfax was part of a grant from
Charles II of England to seven of his
loyal followers in 1649. Called the
Northern Neck Proprietary, this grant
included all the lands between the
Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers
totaling five million acres. Many famous names received land grants from
the agents of the Northern Neck
Proprietary including Washington,
Fitz-hugh, Lee, Mason, Carter, Eskridge, Grayson, Rust, Britt, Sanders
and Parsons.
Fairfax today is a lovely, prosperous suburban community of 22,000.
The city is known for having an
enormous number of great restaurants
relative to its size--over 125 of them.
And the cuisine selection is very
Pars Restaurant in Fairfax offers more
than just Persian Food
cosmopolitan. Two of the finest restaurants are the Bailiwick Inn (www.bailiwickinn.com) and Artie's, at Fairfax Circle (www.greatamericanrestau-
The Ratcliffe-Allison House is the oldest surviving home in Fairfax.
rants.com). Or try Mama’s for incredible Italian food (www.mamasitalianrestaurant.com). Pars offers wonderful
Persian food as well as tasteful belly
dancing for entertainment (on Fridays
and Saturdays). There’s also restaurants offering cuisine of: Thailand,
India, Vietnam, Korea, Ireland,
France, Polynesia, China, Mexico and
Japan. You can request a copy of the
City of Fairfax Hotel and Restaurant
Guide by calling 800-572-8666.
The town offers excellent shopping, museums, art galleries, and musical performances (many performed at
the 2,000-seat Center for the Arts at
George Mason University) (www.gmu.edu.cfa).
There are some wonderful attractions in the Fairfax area, especially for
those interested in history, as the city
has 109 historic properties such as the
Old Town Hall or the historic Fairfax
Courthouse, which houses George
Washington’s Will. A Walking Tour
map of Old Town Fairfax is available
at the Visitors Center, or by calling
703-385-8414.
The Ratcliffe-Allison House is the
Mt. Vernon was the white house before we had a White House.
oldest surviving home in the city. Built
between 1805-1812, it originally served
as a stagecoach stop known as Earp’s
Ordinary. Later it was the home of a
cobbler and in the Twentieth Century
was the residence of a Washington
Post garden writer named Kitty Posner.
Also, visit the Fairfax Museum
and Visitor Center (www.ci.fairfax.va.us), and the historic Blenheim Estate, which contains the largest collection of Civil War graffiti in the nation.
(Blenheim is currently under restoration by the City of Fairfax and is open
to visitors by appointment or during
Civil War weekend in May.) (www.ci.fairfax.va.us)
(www.stmaryofsorrows.org).
Just outside the city limits is the
Manassas National Battlefield Park,
site of the infamous Civil War battles
of 1861 and 1862. While visiting, don’t
miss the incredible documentary
shown in the Visitor’s Center, “The
End of Innocence”. This film has a
profound effect on those who view it.
(www.nps.gov/mana/)
George Washington’s home at
Mount Vernon is also a favorite destination, and is just 20 minutes from
Fairfax. There’s a guided tour of this
The Sully Plantation is a place
that gives you a real historic glimpse
of life in the 18th century. Completed
in 1799 by Richard Bland Lee, the
main house at Sully combines aspects
of Georgian and Federal architecture.
(www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/sully/)
You can visit the National Firearms Museum, located at the NRA
headquarters. It contains a collection
of more than 2,000 firearms--the largest collection east of the Mississippi.
Colonial attire on display at the
Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center
Fairfax (railroad) Station offers a
museum that railroad buffs will enjoy
(phone 703-278-8833) and nearby St.
Mary’s Church is the site where Clara
Barton aided wounded union soldiers
The modern kitchen of 1799 Virginia
at the Sully Plantation.
(phone 703-780-2000)
There are also many outdoor activities available in the area. Fairfax
has 21 parks within its 6 square miles
where you can enjoy tennis or go for a
jog. There’s hiking, biking and horseback riding. The Washington and Old
Dominion Railroad Regional Park is
also a great location for bird watching.
Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville also offers a shooting center
where you can try skeet shooting
(703-830-2344), and the NRA Headquarters at Waples Mill Rd., in Fairfax has a state-of-the-art range. (www.nrahq.org)
The Space Shuttle “Enterprise” now
on display at the Udvar-Hazy
“white house before there was a White
House.” Plan to spend some time in
the museum, where some of Washington’s thousands of letters are on
display. It’s also interesting to note
how the home's wood exterior was
made to look like stone (rustification).
Gardeners will enjoy Meadowlark
Botanical Gardens, a 95-acre park
displaying azaleas, hydrangeas, flowering cherries, crab apple trees, irises,
daylilies peonies and lilacs.
Also for a day-trip, enjoy the
Virginia wine country, the scenic Blue
Ridge Parkway, and Luray Caverns.
The biggest draw to the area will
no doubt be the already-mentioned,
newly-opened Smithsonian UdvarHazy National Air and Space Museum
at Dulles International Airport (www.nasm.si.edu). Over 200 aircraft and
135 spacecraft are on display, including the Space Shuttle “Enterprise”, a
SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft, the Dash 80 prototype of the
Boeing 707, the Enola Gay B-29, and
the Air France Concorde, to name a
few.
The new IMAX theater at the
Udvar-Hazy shouldn’t be missed.
IMAX technology has improved and
this new facility proves it. The visual
clarity and sound quality are breathtaking. The museum also has an observation tower (to view air traffic from
Dulles).
The museum was named for its
most generous individual donor-Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, who pledged
$65 million for the project. He is
president of International Lease Finance Corporation, a worldwide commercial aircraft-leasing company. The
museum, while open, is not yet complete. But already, there are far more
aircraft displayed there than there are
at the Smithsonian on the downtown
Washington Mall.
Accommodations in Fairfax range
from B&B’s to Campgrounds to Motels. The Bailiwick Inn boasts 14
rooms. (www.bailiwickinn.com). Motels include the Comfort Inn (www.choicehotels.com/hotel/VA073) and
the Hampton Inn (703-591-5500).
Both offer rooms at street prices (with
the usual discounts) from $70-125
night, depending on time of year and
time of week. (Weekends are less.)
Campers or those with RV’s will want
to check out the Burke Lake Park
(703-323-6601). Fishing and golf are
available there.
A recently decommissioned Concorde now on display at the Udvar-Hazy
Smithsonian.
In fact, there are 20 golf courses
with a 30-minute drive from Fairfax,
including the notable Westfield's Golf
Club, located in Clifton. Greens fees
range from $55-95. For additional
information about golf in the area, go
to www.NVRPA.org or www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks.
For more information about staying and playing in Fairfax, Virginia,
call 800-572-8666 or go to www.visitfairfax.com.
And thanks for travelling!